Though Manet himself didn't witness the battle, he almost certainly drew from first-hand accounts of other French citizens, hundreds of whom witnessed the battle as it unfolded just outside the Cherbourg harbor.

I find it a powerful composition and a good example of marine art and historical illustration.

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

In October, I had the privilege of once again touring the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," and go aboard her as she was taken out for her last "turn around" cruise before entering dry dock sometime this year.
(Click here for my first experience seeing Constitution at Marine Week Boston in 2010).

I am now painting as a civilian artist for the Navy Art Program, and they sent me up to sketch, photograph, and paint the ship and crew-- to document for posterity the wonderful anachronism of the oldest commissioned ship still in the naval service.

Since I got back, I've been drawing and painting scenes from my time on board, and am beginning to see the fruits of my labor.

I've got several paintings in process, both oil and acrylic, as well as some drawings...

Yesterday I finished an acrylic study of a Constitution sailor, with full 1813 uniform complete with coat and cover, working with rope:

Other works, still in process, are several oils, including one featuring one of the female sailors aboard (I refer to this painting unofficially as "Rosie the Sailor"):

Also nearing completion is this oil painting, based on several photos I took of the crew in action, here shown hauling in the lines so we can cast off and get underway.

Yesterday, I began this little acrylic (9" x 10") study of a gunners mate cleaning the "salute gun" after Constitution did a 21gun salute while out in the harbor:

I will keep you posted, perhaps even later in the day, as this one progresses...
Anchors Aweigh!UPDATED @ 1630, 4 Feb 2015
here's the progress on it from this afternoon:

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Here's an old sketch I did while on my first deployment as a combat artist, back in 2006. It's of a young jundi (soldier), one Ali Muhammad Kathair, just before he goes out on patrol in his town of Anah, Iraq:

I'm glad we found it (my wife was organizing her new craft space and found it in some things-- we still have no clue how it got there!). I will submit it to the Combat Art Collection of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, where it belongs.

Sketches like this one are very valuable, I think, because though they may lack refinement or be a bit "off," they are one of a kind records of something the artist saw.

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

I was going through my photo CDs just now, and found a disc with these photos on it.They're of the "The Home of the Commandants" in Washington DC, and show the portrait I did of the residence, hanging on the wall in the main hallway.

I still get a kick out of thinking about that.They really framed it up nicely, too.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Here are the updated renderings I mentioned in the previous post, for the upcoming Marine Aviation Monument. I souped up the color a bit compared to the previous iterations, and added some detail to suggest what the final bas reliefs will portray:

I also did another architectural rendering of the proposed monument, to be used in a promotional piece:

It's a veritable hodgepodge of visual elements including digital work, drawings, photographs and sculpted items (the finial Emblem on the top is actually the maquette I did for the project) I must also give credit to Natalie of the architectural firm Fentress, whose original rendering using my design sketches I used as the inspiration and derivation for this image.

And here are the original brainstorming thumbnail sketches I did for the
project, scribbled on the back of a sheet of used paper:

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Lately I've been working fervently on a project about which I'm greatly excited, and for which I'm honored to have been hired: The Marine Corps Aviation Association'sMarine Aviation Monument.I'll be sculpting four bas reliefs for the monument, which will memorialize the main eras of Marine Corps Aviation: WWI, WWII/Korea, Vietnam, and GWOT. I've done some basic drawings to visualize the bas reliefs, which I'm now refining and adding color to, to be used in publications and promotional materials.

About Me

I am a fine artist and illustrator in the Classical Realist school, inspired by the masters of art history as I sketch and paint the world around me.
"The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.”
― Steven Pressfield